Trying to set up iPhone with Exchange Server?

We receive many iPhone setup calls each week where the customer states “I’m trying to get my work email on this phone, I don’t know if I should be going through Microsoft Exchange or a different way. Typically I am not totally clueless about what my exchange settings should be. I’ve tried going into the “add new account” and adding, Microsoft Exchange and I’ve also tried adding a POP and IMAP account, which I was unsuccessful in doing. I’ve also tried syncing with iTunes… I got my contacts, calendars, etc., but no such luck with email. I’m thinking that maybe I am not typing the correct things, or maybe that it just isn’t possible to do this on iPhone in general.

The iPhone Exchange Setup issues are different for each company that contacts our iPhone Setup Support line, but the THEME is the same.

Battle the iPhone Setup process for weeks with no solution.

These Exchange and iPhone users are persistent in their efforts to find a solution at ALL COST.

Contact Apple Technical Support – Receive a polite well trained counselor who puts you on hold for 5 minutes — (Suggesting that they are referring your problem to senior engineers) then directs you to a web page to read a PDF installation document that informs you of steps already known. Then when you call back (all frustrated), they suggest that you should pay Apple Genius Support $300.00 for a senior technical engineer to tell you that your iPhone sync issue is a Microsoft Exchange problem. Nice try Apple Sauce.

Search Google – 1,000+ Posts. Reading through many sites who just “republish” technical information from other sites to make the appearance that their site is legitimate. YET, the intention of the site is to sell you more BLING BLING for your new iphone. We did our own searching recently and we were chuckling over the fact that 98% of the post would not even get you close to a solution. Remember to backup your system before trying some of these posts. We have seen some very questionable suggestions that might create you a Bigger mess then you were bargaining for.

Phone a Friend – Contact all of your friends – technicians in your circle. You will be amazed on the suggestions. Some will suggest going to 2007, because 2003 does not support iPhone 3.0 activesync (WRONG). Some will suggest getting a legitimate certificate from Verisign or godaddy (WRONG AGAIN). Most will say the process is very easy and it is currently working on three other servers, but does not know why your server is not working.

Well, here are some of the more common iPhone Exchange Setup Blog post “misconceptions” you should avoid.

1. You do not need to purchase a certificate from Verisign, Godaddy, etc. A simple self signed certificate will work.
2. DO NOT waste your time installing certificates on the 3G iphone. Again, I am not sure why people continue to instruct you to head this way.
3. Forget about RPC-HTTP. This has nothing to do with iPhone Activesync. We do think RPC-HTTP is a great connectivity tool for Outlook desktop client. But, having RPC working will not improve your OMA/ActiveSync for the iPhone 3G.
4. Do not change the server’s computer name!!! (Stange that someone would, but we have seen this two times now.)
5. Do not reset the anonymous password for the default web site!! (We have seen this 3 times now.)
5. These errors are confusing. Just make sure you have Service Pack 2 for exchange. This will solve 90 percent of your issues. If you want a guided setup tour. Check out our TechnoKOZ iPhone Setup Cook Book.

If in doubt, don’t follow the google suggestion. You will find out that your OWA (Outlook Web Access page will stop working, or worse people lose connectivity to your Microsoft Exchange 2003 / 2007 server)

Call TECHNOKOZ, first: 480.440.4650/ Skype: TECHNOKOZ

We are receiving many calls each week, because their iPhone Acitvesync stops working after 5 months in production.

There are many reasons why these new iPhone 2.0, 3.0gs units stop working. We can quickly identify the culprit and fix the activesync issue(s) quickly, so you can back to what drives your business. Remember, we don’t just solve the easy sync issues, but the most difficult issue as well.